


Cheap Cigarettes and Careful Touches

by Anonymous



Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Sanji Is Not A Vinsmoke, Warm, anonymous cuz im shy there isnt anything weird in this fic, hand holding, just rlly soft, lots of hand touching, sanji is pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 09:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27968336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: He closed his eyes, relaxing onto the back of the lounging chair outside as Luffy kneeled beside him, still turning the pale hand onto his own, grabbing individual fingers, twirling and pressing them for what felt like the hundredth time.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Vinsmoke Sanji, Monkey D. Luffy/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 108
Collections: Anonymous





	Cheap Cigarettes and Careful Touches

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with more sanlu!!  
> Please note that I'm in no way a writer and english isn't my first language, apologies for grammar errors and anything that might sound off  
> Please enjoy this short little thing :)!
> 
> \- DG

The squawking of the sea gulls up above, the gentle lull of the waves hitting back and forth on sunny’s hull, making a sound he’d heard almost all his life, the familiar smoke going into his lungs as he held what he thinks must be the second cigarette of the day.

And his captain, of course, playing with his hand like a kitten who had just been given a new toy.

He closed his eyes, relaxing onto the back of the lounging chair outside as Luffy kneeled beside him, still turning the pale hand onto his own, grabbing individual fingers, twirling and pressing them for what felt like the hundredth time.

Sanji opened his eyes and finally decided to ask, 

“And what in hell are you doing, exactly?”

Luffy took a moment to register that the cook had said anything at all, too distracted by... still studying Sanji’s knuckles, apparently.

“Ah, I’m seeing your hand!”

“That much is obvious, you”

“Then why did’ya ask?”

“...Nevermind.”

Sanji took another long drag of his cigarette. Damn, this brand was particularly cheap, Nami-swan had reduced his allowance this week for buying a ‘far too expensive’ fish that took a quarter of the grocery money, but he couldn’t help it, alright!? That thing was a rare beauty and his hands itched to cook it. His allowance be damned, maybe he’d be forgiven once he served the delicacy; but for now he was stuck with the cheapest stuff, it seemed.

Luffy had now moved to observe his palm and the lines in it, lightly tracing their path with a finger, memorizing every dance they took on the surface of his skin and the touch reminded him of the tickle of a feather but much, much more purposeful. It was unfamiliar to say the least, even more so from his captain who was usually a brute and reckless. He flinched slightly and swallowed the urge to pull away, if only to not disturb the other man in... whatever current activity he was engaging on.

He sighed.

“Why are you doing that?” asked the blonde.

“Why? ‘cuz I want to”

“Of course.” Why even ask. “But, why, exactly are you playing with my hand?”

Luffy chuckled, Sanji doubted he even heard him, “They’re so different, look!”

Faster than Sanji’s thoughts could keep up, Luffy extended his arms towards the cook’s face, one of his hands holding tight onto a pale one, the position his arm was twisted in was rather awkward and it was bound to get uncomfortable at some point, but he ignored it in favor of paying attention to whatever wonder his ears were about to be blessed with.

“Yours are soft!”

Huh, that’s unexpected.

(Without his consent, his heart started beating just a smidge quicker, enough for him to take notice of. Thump, thump, thump, it said in his chest.)

Sanji would never consider himself prim for his hands to be found in that state, not ever proper with the way he swears to the four seas, he’s a pirate for god’s sake. But as a cook he had to pride himself in his hands, they’re beyond essential, he thought that if they were ever to be taken from him he’d rather not live at all, for he would lose his purpose. Of course he had to take good care of them, what idiot in the culinary world would do otherwise?

He never thought of them as soft, though, they weren’t _soft_ (were they?). He paused a moment while his brain played catch up.

Luffy must’ve noticed, cause he extended a hand of his own nearly crashing with Sanji’s face for a moment.

“Here, feel mine.” His idiot captain said.

“Ah- uh... okay, okay, stop saying weird stuff.” He relented.

He broke free of Luffy’s hold and brought both of his hands towards the younger man’s, and _felt_.

Guess he hadn’t put any thought in it at all before that, because they really were very different, those hands of theirs.  
It didn’t come as a surprise to him though, shouldn’t have, after all the uncaring man fought with his fists, a wild smile, and nothing else. Hell, just the first day they met he had brought his clenched fist against dozens of hard iron, sharp spikes belonging to Don Kruge or something just to land a good hit on the guy.

And yet, his breath paused for a second when he took notice of the hand between his.

The cook dragged his thumbs on the back of Luffy’s hand, putting just enough pressure to make the skin dip. The younger simply grinned at him, with that specific smile he had long ago categorized as a cheery ‘I told ya!’

It was... rough... dry, almost. He knows the man is made of rubber so he always expected it to be different from a regular person’s own, but it wasn’t like he imagined it, either. It felt thick and odd somehow, if he pulled on the skin he couldn’t find the tiny tiny creases that were supposed to form around the area where the skin had folded, it felt much like pulling old rubber, proving still strong against the exertion of time and use.

Taking for a moment a hand off his captain’s, he grabbed the cheap cigarette from his mouth and set it aside on the ashtray. In a second Sanji’s hand found its way back, eyes never leaving their original position, dead focused on his captain.

He flipped the other’s hand, and traced new lines on the unfamiliar skin, the palms were different too, they felt calloused and as if someone was pulling a little too tight on a rubber band, stretched taut and stiff.

Before he could help himself, a soft laugh that sounded more like a breathy chuckle escaped him. The roles were reversed now, he noted with amusement.

Feeling a little more brave, he pulled at the skin on Luffy’s arm. Oh, that was quite different. It didn’t feel nearly as stiff or thick as the hands, in fact, it was pretty smooth. He could also remember softness from the few times the cook had pulled the younger one’s cheek when he misbehaved. 

He went back to the hands, bringing the fingers at a foot’s distance from his eyes, and examined them. If he really concentrated and focused his vision, he could see countless faint scars on the brown skin, they were a shade paler and mostly consisted of thin lines and small shapes, some more prominent, some quite recent, some almost completely faded, and a few larger ones from particularly nasty injuries. He traced a finger over those, careful, as if they were to light on fire if he pressed any harsher.

In their own little world, he got lost exploring the other’s skin, and at some point it made sense, the difference in textures. The idiot did fight warlords, emperors, and admirals with those fists. Right now though, in between Sanji’s hands, they didn’t look nearly as destructive, they had more meat than Sanji’s but the cook’s hands had longer fingers and more prominent bone. 

He didn’t realize when he started comparing both of their hands, but as he was checking their size, softer palm pressing firm against a rubber one, their fingers slid on each other and settled, intertwined, in-between the dips of the other’s knuckles, closing.

A moment passed.

(One that in his opinion was too long, but felt like not nearly enough.)

It hit him, and as if he had been burned by the mere intimacy of the touch, he pulled away audibly gasping. He was about to utter a half-assed apology and excuse himself to the kitchen so he could halt his nerves, and stop his hands (which a second ago were tangled in his captain’s) from shaking. Then he looked up to at least meet the man’s eyes.

Luffy was blushing,

blushing?

... _blushing!?_

A slightly darker and more rosy shade than his skin lightly decorated the younger’s freckled cheeks, and the mix of pinks, and reds, and browns made Sanji’s heart flutter violently, like a scared and injured bird being cooped up by careful rubber hands.

Sanji could pinpoint the exact moment in which something fell, and being the fool that he is, couldn’t tell if it was his stomach to the pit of his insides or he himself, falling deeper for the shorter man.

(He wasn’t really sure when it started, among all the times Luffy woke him up to make him a late night or early morning snack, maybe it had been somewhere along smile number four or smile number three thousand seven hundred and fifty-ish. But it was there, and he was screwed.)

“See? Soft!” He gifted a large smile and Sanji swore he could see the sun through him. At Luffy’s rosy cheeks and subtle fidgeting, rubbing his fingers together, the love cook could do nothing but stare even if the brightness threatened to burn his eyes. 

That smile, he hadn’t categorized that one yet.

It deemed unnecessary though, the large grin had yelled its name and refused anyone who sees it to perceive it differently, it said, ‘unbound, unending affection,’ and somehow, it had been directed at Sanji.

He doesn’t think he’s ever felt so warm before, it’s rather overwhelming but he can’t bring himself to pull away.

Clutching that feeling and tucking it away in the deep core of his memory for safekeeping, the blonde smiled back at him, it’s a really nice day outside.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! I wanted to practice something with a little more plot than just character study/introspection... maybe the pacing was a bit weird!?  
> It also just happens to be that I really like thinking about holding hands! and thinking about these two!
> 
> Leave a kudos or comment if it was enjoyable, it'd really mean the world to me ;o;!!!!  
> Here's also [my other sanlu drabble](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27891163)!
> 
> \- DG


End file.
